Beluga Monitoring Aboard Antarès

Our first encounter comes quickly. A few belugas, heading up the fjord, dot the misty waters. They sometimes dive for several minutes at a time. Standing on a platform on the roof of the boat, Jade-Audrey notes what she observes and begins snapping photos.

In parallel, the research assistant enters some of the data directly into the digital tablet app. To save time, the details of the composition of the observed groups are dictated aloud and simultaneously transcribed into the tablet. She must also photograph the animals’ left and right flanks.

Data collection is carried out within a 2 km radius, as it is assumed that these belugas belong to a single herd. Jade-Audrey adds: “For belugas outside the 2 km zone, I note their presence according to the direction they are facing.”

Photo-ID challenges

With her Nikon Z8 and 100-400 mm lens, the research assistant aims her camera at every beluga she can see within a 100-metre radius. Her main challenge is trying to photograph all of the belugas around the boat.

Belugas are challenging to photograph due to their pale colouring, which varies from one individual to the next. Jade-Audrey therefore had to constantly adjust the camera’s exposure to avoid overexposing individuals in the changing light.

Fog was also a factor that needed to be accounted for, as it made it harder for the camera to focus. Additionally, the glare made some patches of water unsuitable for our work, as the sun’s reflection on the surface made it difficult to clearly discern the belugas.

However, belugas are often difficult to identify when they don’t show any distinctive markings. We were very careful not to photograph the same individuals twice, but belugas are highly mobile and it’s easy to confuse them. The crew would sometimes give different individuals temporary nicknames to tell them apart and track their movements.